Wednesday, 8 June 2011

ANDROID OVERVIEW

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications.[7][8] Google Inc. purchased the initial developer of the software, Android Inc., in 2005.[9] Android's mobile operating system is based on the Linux kernel. Google and other members of the Open Handset Alliance collaborated on Android's development and release.[10][11] The Android Open Source Project (AOSP) is tasked with the maintenance and further development of Android.[12] The Android operating system is the world's best-selling Smartphone platform.[13][14]



 
Android has a large community of developers writing applications ("apps") that extend the functionality of the devices. There are currently over 200,000 apps available for Android.[15][16] Android Market is the online app store run by Google, though apps can also be downloaded from third-party sites. Developers write primarily in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries.[17]The unveiling of the Android distribution on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 80 hardware, software, and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[18][19] Google released most of the Android code under the Apache License, a free software and open source license.[20]The Android open-source software stack consists of Java applications running on a Java-based, object-oriented application framework on top of Java core libraries running on a Dalvik virtual machine featuring JIT compilation. Libraries written in C include the surface manager, OpenCore[21] media framework, SQLite relational database management system, OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics API, WebKit layout engine, SGL graphics engine, SSL, and Bionic libc. The Android operating system, including the Linux kernel, consists of roughly 12 million lines of code including 3 million lines of XML, 2.8 million lines of C, 2.1 million lines of Java, and 1.75 million lines of C++.Android Inc. founded in 2003
 

Android, Inc. was founded in Palo Alto, California, United States in October, 2003 by Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger),[23] Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc.),[24] Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile),[25] and Chris White (headed design and interface development at WebTV) [26] to develop, in Rubin's words "...smarter mobile devices that are more aware of its owner's location and preferences."[27] Despite the obvious past accomplishments of the founders and early employees, Android Inc. operated secretively, admitting only that it was working on software for mobile phones.[27]
[edit] Android Inc. acquired by Google
Google acquired Android Inc. in August, 2005, making Android Inc. a wholly owned subsidiary of Google Inc. Key employees of Android Inc., including Andy Rubin, Rich Miner and Chris White, stayed at the company after the acquisition.Not much was known about Android Inc. at the time of the acquisition, but many assumed that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market with this move. Development accelerates.
At Google, the team led by Rubin developed a mobile device platform powered by the Linux kernel. Google marketed the platform to handset makers and carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, upgradable system. Google had lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation on their part.[28][29][30]
Speculation about Google's intention to enter the mobile communications market continued to build through December 2006.[31] Reports from the BBC and The Wall Street Journal noted that Google wanted its search and applications on mobile phones and it was working hard to deliver that. Print and online media outlets soon reported rumors that Google was developing a Google-branded handset.[32] Some speculated that as Google was defining technical specifications, it was showing prototypes to cell phone manufacturers and network operators.In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google had filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony.

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